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xp_logsDuring the forgery process, Marie-Ange consults the resident expert in books and paper, Topaz.
Marie-Ange looked unusually mussed as she came into the office, hair frizzing out of her usual neat style, and in a slightly battered pair of jeans and paint-streaked shirt. Her tired expression brightened as she saw who was at the front desk. "Oh good, yes, I do not have to track you down. I need your expertise."
Topaz looked up from her book, tilting her head. Frazzled Marie-Ange was never a good thing. "My expertise? For what?"
"Centuries old paper." Marie-Ange answered tiredly. "And to know how geographically narrow I need to be to source it." She rubbed at her face with ink-stained fingers. "It is lambskin, I have historical data, I have the source narrowed to a region and a year, and I do not have time to make parchment. I also do not have sheep."
There was a slightly unamused look in Topaz’s eyes. “So you want me to recreate parchment from sixteen-fuck all for… what, exactly? Loose documents? A book? Do you know how long it takes to properly bind a book in a way that’s authentic to the time period? What about the cover? I’m not killing any sheep.”
"I have the binding method. I think." Despite that, Marie-Ange tapped out several texts, and swiped her phone screen to send Topaz a parcel of documents. "It is several books, at least three. I have to make the glue. The smell shall never come out of the apron, and I am not even done yet. I intend to burn it once I am done. I just need the paper." She dug in her pocket, for once not even carrying one of her ever-present bags. "Doug gets to make the ink. Do you want to guess what kind of bones the boneblack was made of?"
"Not really, no." She pinched the bridge of her nose, then took out her phone to go through what Marie-Ange had sent her. She'd double check the binding, just in case, but for now she focused on the history. "Okay... oh. Oh. Okay, that's..." Her eyes were still moving along as she read the details. "Okay. The original text was protected by followers of the writer for years until one of them broke it up and printed it into other books because - I don't know, magic people are weird and paranoid. That would have been around... the late seventeen hundreds or very early eighteen hundreds. Bloke was..." She waved a hand a few times, trying to remember. "Dutch. Dutch occult printer. I can look up the name and probably find where he lived, which logically would have been where he also printed the books. I'm still not killing any sheep."
"We would need three hundred year old sheep besides. What I need is three hundred year old lambskin parchment." Marie-Ange pulled a clear piece of plastic from her pocket, and handed it to Topaz. Inside the protective film were pieces of yellowing parchment, each the size of a cereal flake "In these colors, and ... is parchment even measured in weight? I need it to be this thick. If they use a reputable appraiser, then all the materials will be checked for age."
Topaz eyed the colors for a long moment and nodded. "I assume costs aren't an issue?"
"Not even a little bit of an issue." Marie-Ange also handed over a credit card. "If you need anything imported in quickly, I can put you in touch with people if you do not already have anyone."
"Will do." Topaz was already back on her phone, taking the card without looking. "I'll let you know as soon as I have something."
Marie-Ange looked unusually mussed as she came into the office, hair frizzing out of her usual neat style, and in a slightly battered pair of jeans and paint-streaked shirt. Her tired expression brightened as she saw who was at the front desk. "Oh good, yes, I do not have to track you down. I need your expertise."
Topaz looked up from her book, tilting her head. Frazzled Marie-Ange was never a good thing. "My expertise? For what?"
"Centuries old paper." Marie-Ange answered tiredly. "And to know how geographically narrow I need to be to source it." She rubbed at her face with ink-stained fingers. "It is lambskin, I have historical data, I have the source narrowed to a region and a year, and I do not have time to make parchment. I also do not have sheep."
There was a slightly unamused look in Topaz’s eyes. “So you want me to recreate parchment from sixteen-fuck all for… what, exactly? Loose documents? A book? Do you know how long it takes to properly bind a book in a way that’s authentic to the time period? What about the cover? I’m not killing any sheep.”
"I have the binding method. I think." Despite that, Marie-Ange tapped out several texts, and swiped her phone screen to send Topaz a parcel of documents. "It is several books, at least three. I have to make the glue. The smell shall never come out of the apron, and I am not even done yet. I intend to burn it once I am done. I just need the paper." She dug in her pocket, for once not even carrying one of her ever-present bags. "Doug gets to make the ink. Do you want to guess what kind of bones the boneblack was made of?"
"Not really, no." She pinched the bridge of her nose, then took out her phone to go through what Marie-Ange had sent her. She'd double check the binding, just in case, but for now she focused on the history. "Okay... oh. Oh. Okay, that's..." Her eyes were still moving along as she read the details. "Okay. The original text was protected by followers of the writer for years until one of them broke it up and printed it into other books because - I don't know, magic people are weird and paranoid. That would have been around... the late seventeen hundreds or very early eighteen hundreds. Bloke was..." She waved a hand a few times, trying to remember. "Dutch. Dutch occult printer. I can look up the name and probably find where he lived, which logically would have been where he also printed the books. I'm still not killing any sheep."
"We would need three hundred year old sheep besides. What I need is three hundred year old lambskin parchment." Marie-Ange pulled a clear piece of plastic from her pocket, and handed it to Topaz. Inside the protective film were pieces of yellowing parchment, each the size of a cereal flake "In these colors, and ... is parchment even measured in weight? I need it to be this thick. If they use a reputable appraiser, then all the materials will be checked for age."
Topaz eyed the colors for a long moment and nodded. "I assume costs aren't an issue?"
"Not even a little bit of an issue." Marie-Ange also handed over a credit card. "If you need anything imported in quickly, I can put you in touch with people if you do not already have anyone."
"Will do." Topaz was already back on her phone, taking the card without looking. "I'll let you know as soon as I have something."
